


Finding her way home

by Natandacat



Category: Captain Marvel (2019)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Getting Back Together, I mean they were basically married right, Monica is a good student and an adorable gremlin, but like slowly guys, carol is helping the Skrulls find a safe home, no propaganda in my house, not but really, post movie canon, squint and youll miss it discussing the wrongdoings of the us military, tagging is hard and I'm tired, theres no inbetweens, we gays either rent a uhaul right away or pine for decade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 19:51:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18058949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natandacat/pseuds/Natandacat
Summary: There hadn't been quite enough time to find out if they could still fit together as a family, had it. Not with all the fighting and the taking off to help a whole nation of refugees find a home thing.In which there is a cup of tea, a blanket waiting to be shared, and pasts both parties are ashamed of.And maybe -maybe, there is also a house big enough for three, and the opportunity for Carol to find her way home.





	Finding her way home

When the house came into focus Maria was already outside, waiting.

She was sitting on the front deck with a blanket across her shoulders or a steaming mug that read _Best pilot, Best engineer, Best mom_. Her posture was relaxed and confident despite the badly hidden awe in her eyes -was it because of the show of power, or because she still couldn’t believe that after all this time…

“You told us you wouldn’t be back for a while”, she called out as soon as Carol got in hearing distance. “It’s only been three months, what happened? You got me used to more, _bestie_.”

Her voice was playful in spite of the criticism, Carol noticed with a pang of relief. It was difficult to navigate, this -this situation. Their relationship. Part of her wanted to drop to the ground and lay her head in Maria’s lap but she was lucid enough to know it would take time for things to go back to the way were.

If they ever did.

So instead, she lowered herself at a steady pace until her feet hit the dirt and slipped into a fake cranky attitude.

“Saw me coming from afar, didn’t you? Couldn’t resist to strike a cool pose and kill my grand entrance. I _was_ gonna burst through a window, you know.”

“Honey”, Maria countered with a laugh. “How many times have you seen a shooting star wearing the American air force colors, uh? I’ve been seeing your propaganda ass coming for miles. You’re not quite discrete anymore.”

Her smile wavered a little as Carol got close enough for her to see specks of blood and dirt splattered on her suit. Eyes scanning up and down the self-proclaimed Captain shifting nervously on her feet, she worried her lip for a minute before rubbing her face and raising a blanket covered arm.

“Just. Get in there -and you better not leave a stain on the blanket it’s my favorite patchwork.”

Carol wouldn’t willingly described herself as giddy -come _on_ she was a grown adult, a veteran and a genuine superhero now-, but if she was honest with herself she _was_ , maybe, a _teensy_ bit, nervous.

It was awkward at first. Maria’s arm didn’t quite fit around her shoulder anymore, so after a bit of shuffling around she tucked the corner against Carol’s collarbone and gathered her hands into her lap. She had wanted to reach out and wrap her fingers around her white, calloused hand but her heart had failed her. She cleaned her throat, trying to break the tension that had settled between them.

“So. Did the Skrulls find a safe home?”

At the edge of her vision she could see Carol shaking her head, dejected.

“We hit some…complications at the beginning of our journey. It took us some time to go off the map and by the time we’d reached some kind of safety, our forces were worn down and the moral was low. I found a moon outside of Kree surveillance -at least for now. The moon is only hidden from their radars during part of its orbital. We were lucky we found it at the right time. It will stay out of sight for another couple of months, barely enough to rest and prepare for what’s to come but…”

Her voice trailed off.

“It’s good enough for now”, finished Maria. “You did a good job, Denvers. It’s alright to take a break once in a while, _Supergirl_.”

Carol’s laugh sounded tired but it was warm, nonetheless.

“What -I’m _not_ Supergirl! If anything I’m Wonder Woman!”

“Nuh-uh, you’re Supergirl! You’re basically a blond alien girl”, she said while counting on her fingers to show off her point, “running around flying and shit! If you’re Wonder Woman where the hell is your magical lasso, cowgirl?”

Their shoulders bumped as they both cracked into ugly wheezing. This -this felt right, like how they used to be, many years ago, chasing down shot after shot with cheap lemonade and breaking the high scores at every arcade game.

After a while their laughter died down and their stares turned to the sky, contemplating. The silence was shared this time, peaceful. Carol was breathing evenly, her fingertips drawing circles on her kneecaps. Maria was twirling her mug between her hands, tracing the letter on the side.

“I missed you”, she said softly. “Three days filled with shapeshifters and classified operations weren’t enough for me to fully realize…”

Tears were gathering in her eyes -this was bad. She tried to breathe but her throat was dry and tight.

She took a sip from her mug. The tea was lukewarm but still enjoyable. Carol was eyeing her with concern, which was thankfully more irritating than painful.

“Don’t give me those eyes. You better have missed me too, or I’m not sharing my tea with you.”

Carol chuckled softly, raising her knees to her chest -the move did make her lean a little into the empty space between them but Maria elected not to comment on that. She did raise her eyebrows though, just so Carol wouldn’t get any ideas thinking she was being subtle or anything.

“Of course I missed you”, Carol said softly. “Sometimes I think… I think, ever when I was there, without my memories of -of you… sometimes I think I could feel a pull. Towards you. And Monica. Like I was longing for _something_ but couldn’t place my finger on it.”

These damn tears were threatening to break free again and she couldn’t have that. Instead Maria stuck her tongue between her teeth and handed the mug over.

“No need to go all Emily Dickinson on my ass, I was going to share either ways.”

Their fingers brushed as the mug changed hands, and it wasn’t right that Maria’s stomach would be so upset over something so little. The red glow around Carol’s hands took her by surprise, and when the mug was nestled back against her palms, the tea was hot and fuming again.

“I passed it over so you would drink some”, she blurted out to cover her shock, “not _microwave_ it.”

I was a cheap jab but it masked how much that little gesture threw her off the loop and that was more than enough for now.

“I’m good”, Carol said with a placating smile, “but I thought you would appreciate some warmth. It _is_ kinda chilly tonight.”

“Girl, I was enjoying my cold tea, how dare you coddle me like a poor damsel in need!”

Of course her fake offense did not make Carol less adventurous, because she used the distraction to keep one of her hands secure in hers.

“Maria… I’m sorry. I am. I wish I had had the chance to…. Leave a message at least. Or give some kind of explanation. I can’t imagine what I would have done h-how I would have reacted if it had been you, instead of me…”

Carol wasn’t trying to keep her tears in check and one came out rolling on her cheek, outlining some of the dirt she had gathered in the past months. Her hands were a little shaky against her, so Maria started caressing them from the inside, slowly contouring the crevasses of her palms.

“After you… _disappeared”_ , she began slowly, “they had me reassigned. I got sent overseas. Irak. At first I was still reeling from, everything that had happened, and I wasn’t paying enough attention.”

Her voice caught, and she had to stop and swallow the shame. I was still hard to bring this shit up, especially to someone she valued as much.

“By the time I got close enough to the action to -to realize, to _see_ what we were doing there… I had already been a part of it. I had been so caught up in _me_ I guess, I -I let things happen. I _helped_ carry out things that I… cannot justify.”

Carol closed her eyes and squeezed her hand and Maria guessed that she, too, must have been on the wrong size of injustice and oppression before.

“So you left.”

“It wasn’t that easy. I had to… I had to get discharged. And you know how hard it is to be let go without too many consequences. I’m not. Proud. Of what I was a part of. Of what we’ve been a part of, to be honest.”

She threw a side glance at Carol. Her eyes were open again, but hard and fixed into nothing.

‘I kind of admire you”, Maria says idly. “For breaking out as cleanly as you did. With the Kree thing. You took six years of brainwashing and like? Threw it all in the trash in what, 48 hours? That’s pretty impressive.”

“That’s not-“

Carol shook her head.

“That’s not the same. You said it yourself. _We_ were a part of the same thing. And I probably wouldn’t have realized either. If I had stayed. You decided to break away on your own. Follow your convictions without any kind of support. It takes a lot of, of _strength_. Mental strength. I’m the one who’s admiring _you_.”

Now that did soothe an old ache in her heart, even though she wasn’t sure which one. Carol’s head was almost on her shoulder, and she wanted to play with her hair.

“So we’re both amazing, and we both admire each other. I say we stop being so damn cute and go inside now, what do you say? It’s late and I’m too old to pull an all-nighter anymore.”

As if she could feel the want radiating from her, Carol brushed her cheek against the junction of her neck and shoulder, sighing softly.

“Is Monica still awake? I’ve missed the little gremlin.”

“Not so much of a gremlin anymore”, Maria chuckled into her hair, “even though she _still_ messes up with my birds sometimes. And no, I sent her to sleep before you arrived. Little miss has an exam tomorrow and she needs her sleepy time to maintain her straight A’s.”

“Aw, look at you proud mama.”

“Damn right I am”, she said proudly. “And she does all of it on her own too. Damn kid is driven by the biggest ambitions I’ve ever seen.”

Carol smiled against her throat and when she spoke her voice was full of pride too.

“I have no doubt she will outgrow us before we ever know it.”

 _Us._ It kept lingering between them, a tentative and fragile guess of what was to come.

But for tonight, it would have to be enough. There would be more times, in the follow months, in the following years, to establish what that _us_ would mean for them. But for now Maria was craving her bed, and the warmth of someone she had thought long gone.

“Let’s go”, she said softly. “I think I might have a spare toothbrush and a pair of pjs for your dirty ass.”

**Author's Note:**

> Can you believe they gave Captain Marvel a WIFE? And they have a KID?
> 
> I came home from the movie, passed out and when I woke up I had a four pages word document open. So really any mistake or typo cannot be blamed on me I wasn't conscious when I wrote this.
> 
> Let me know if you liked this!


End file.
